All artwork at the event will be for sale with all money going to the Save the Children – Haiti Earthquake appeal. The auction will begin at 7pm Friday 26th March and will end at 10pm Friday 9th April.

The website is here.

“The idea is a simple one. That people who Do things, can inspire the rest of us to go and Do things too”.

Linked in part with the good people at Howies, the idea came from a conversation between two of it’s founders over the dining table one night about how to do something about the things we care about.

“They can be small Do’s or big Do’s or just plain amazing extraordinary Do’s. But when you listen to their stories, they just light a fire in your belly to go and Do your thing, your passion, the thing that sits in the back your head each day, just waiting, and waiting for you to follow your heart”.

Its an amazing project that took place in the middle of a forest in Cilgerran, Wales. You can subscribe to the podcast here, or go to the website where you can watch or download the lectures. Work your way through, read about the people, there’s a lot to learn and enjoy

Alastair McIntosh was one of the great speakers at the Do lectures, and it was actually a post on the Howies site about him that originally got me interested. It was a list taken from a book of his entiltled ‘rekindling the community’ from a page about how to build a community.

here it is:

• turn off your tv
• leave your house
• know your neighbours
• greet people
• look up when you’re walking
• sit on your stoop
• plant flowers
• use your library
• play together
• buy from local merchants
• share what you have
• help a lost dog
• take children to the park
• honour elders
• support neighbourhood schools
• fix it even if you didn’t break it
• have pot lucks
• garden together
• pick up litter
• read stories aloud
• dance in the street
• talk to your mail carrier
• lsiten to the birds
• put up a swing
• help carry something heavy
• barter for your goods
• start a tradition
• ask a question
• hire young people for odd jobs
• organise a block party
• bake extra and share
• ask for help when you need it
• open your shades
• sing together
• share your skills
• take back the night
• turn up the music
• turn down the music
• listen before you react to anger
• mediate a conflict
• seek to understand
• learn from new and uncomfortable angles
• know that no one is silent though many are not heard
• work to change this

The lecture by Andrew Whitley  ‘Why Bread Needs Time?’ is interesting and scary at the same time. I’d only just started making my own bread about 3 weeks before watching it, now i’m happy that I did.

All images © The Do Lectures